Myotis mystacinus (Kuhl, 1817)

Godlevska, L., Rebrov, S., Vorobei, P., Savchenko, M. & Panchenko, P., 2022, Bats Of Central Ukraine: A Synopsis, Zoodiversity 56 (3), pp. 203-232 : 212-213

Myotis mystacinus morphogroup

Among European bat species, the group of whiskered bats is one of the most complicated both for systematics and field identification (e. g. Benda & Tsytsulina, 2000; Çoraman et al., 2020).

We distinguished species of this group by morphological characters (using description from: Dietz & von Helversen, 2004). Part of specimens was identified only to the group of four or three species, in particular those found during winter counts in hibernacula.

In the study region, we identified the occurrence of four bat species from the M. mystacinus morphogroup: M. brandtii , M. mystacinus , M. aurascens , M. alcathoe ( fig. 10 , 11 ).

All four species were first recorded in the study region only in the last decades. In the ZMF- and ZFS-subregions, records of species of the group are, generally, very rare ( Zagorodniuk & Godlevska, 2003; Godlevskaya, 2007; Gashchak et al., 2009; 2013; Annex). In the DRS-subregion, whiskered bats are recorded regularly; here, we first identified all four species.

In general, clarification of the distribution and status of M. mystacinus morphogroup species in the study region, like in other regions of Ukraine, requires further research with applying genetic methods.

— Myotis brandtii (Eversmann, 1845) . In the ZMF- and ZFS-subregions, it is very rare. Single individuals of this species were found there only in six study localities ( fig. 10 ). In the DRS-subregion, its abundance, at present, cannot be estimated correctly: most records of whiskered bats refer to the winter season and are identified only to the group M. brandtii / M. mystacinus s. l.

The breeding of the species in the study region was confirmed only in one locality, in Zhytomyr Region, where one juvenile female was netted in the middle of July (Annex). As for now, there is no information about summer roosts. Only one winter shelter of this species was verified: in a drainage mine in Kyiv, where a single individual was found (Annex) .

— Myotis alcathoe von Helversen & Heller, 2001 . One juvenile specimen of a small whiskered bat (ra = 31.5 mm), identified as M. alcathoe , was netted in the DRS-subregion, in Odesa Region, in 2014 (Annex). Any other records are so far absent ( fig. 10 ).

— Myotis aurascens Kuzyakin, 1935 . Bats identified as M. aurascens were recorded in the Dniester subregion, in three localities ( fig. 11 ): in two of them, in underground sites during the autumn swarming season; in one, by skeleton remains, found in a rock crevice (Annex).

— Myotis mystacinus (Kuhl, 1817) s. s. was recorded in two localities. We identified M. mystacinus s. s. in one underground site in the Dniester subregion during autumn swarming (Annex). In the ZMF-subregion, in summer 2009, an adult male, identified as M. mystacinus s. s. was netted at the territory of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone ( Gashchak et al., 2009). The latter record, however, stands alone among other records of whiskered bats in this part of Ukraine. All other records of identified to species whiskered bats here are presented by M. brandtii ( Godlevska et al., 2016 b; 2020; this paper). In adjacent territories of southern Belarus, only M. brandtii was recorded ( Shpak, 2010; Dombrovski, 2018).

Number of whiskered bats ( M. bra . + M. mys . s. l.) comprised ca. 6 % of all counted bat individuals in underground hibernacula of the DRS-subregion ( fig. 25 , B). However, during winter counts, when no contact examination of bats is possible, the determination of species of this group was not done. Nevertheless, taking into account that all four species were identified in the Dniester subregion, and that whiskered bats in Europe are considered to be sedentary ( Hutterer et al., 2005), we presume that all these species winter in the DRSsubregion.

Figures

Fig. 10. Record localities of Myotis brandtii (A, B), Myotis alcathoe (C), and not identidied specimens of Myotis mystacinus morphogroup (D).

Fig. 11. Record localities of Myotis mystacinus morphogroup species: M. mystacinus s. s. (A, B), Myotis aurascens (C).

Fig. 25. Quantitative representativeness of bat species in underground hibernacula of the study area (by own data of 1999–2021). A, ZMF- and ZFS-subregions (34 and 16 objects; 1931 and 51 identified ind., correspondingly); B, DRS-subregion (26 objects, 1697 identified ind.). By: Godlevskaya, 2007; Godlevska et al., 2010, 2012; this paper. In case of numerous counts, maximal numbers were taken.